


Thanks Pepper

by MCUsic_to_my_ears



Series: Making Our Way Home [5]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (or possibly, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Angst, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Bruce Banner-centric, During Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Gen, Just Not Right Now, Panic, Panic Attacks, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Iron Man 3, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, but only because he doesn't know, depending on which ending you pick), tony stark is out of town, why can't i ever write something happy?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8493277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MCUsic_to_my_ears/pseuds/MCUsic_to_my_ears
Summary: Prompt: The line about Bruce liking to isolate himself made me think of him hiding away in his Safe Room or Hulkout Room when Tony is away for a few days or too busy or something, so when he comes back, he finds out Bruce had a bit of a freak-out and stayed in his room for days without food and just scared of hulking out. Bonus points if Bruce has no idea how much time has even passed.Basically follows the prompt, but while I was making my outline, I realized there were two ways I could go with this, so I wrote both like the silly rabbit I am. So ending one is when Agent Miller is contacted and ending two is when Steve is. Since they both have the same setup, that is chapter one and then it goes chapter 2 for Miller and 3 for Steve.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GenuineSnoof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenuineSnoof/gifts).



> Note: in my version of the story, CA:TWS takes place a year after the Avengers, instead of like tow, I think. 
> 
> Also Note: Depending on which version you read, CA:TWS either takes place during the story or after the story.
> 
> Still Note: Thanks to GenuineSnoof for this prompt-- I had a lot of fun writing this (even if it took forever), so if you do have a prompt, I'd love to write it.

“Bruce  has a tendency to just go into [his safe rooms]. He likes to isolate himself.”

***

It was so stupid. It was stupid enough that JARVIS hadn’t even noticed when it first started. Or rather, he was able to hide it from JARVIS when it first started. 

Tony was away for a few days in Australia since Stark Industries were starting up a manufacturing facility there, so he had to go to more meetings than he did in what he’d dubbed Board-om Week, in order to confirm everything. And he knew that he shouldn’t have left Bruce alone in the tower, but Bruce had been having a really good week leading up to his departure and Tony hadn’t wanted to ruin that by belittling him or by making him go on a plane since that was one of the physicist’s worst nightmares. So he left for Australia, with the reassurance that Bruce would be glued to his cell phone and connected through JARVIS. 

Except Bruce walked into the middle of a screaming match between Steve and someone he was on the phone with. He didn’t know why it set him off, he’d been living in the tower for almost a year and yelling was a staple of the building. He was  _ used  _ to loud noises at this point, or at least yelling. Maybe it had been the words, or how they were being said, but whatever it was, it made Steve storm out of the tower and Bruce feel irritated, unsafe, for the rest of the day. 

Hiding away in his lab, Bruce tried to push away all of his anxieties and get some work down, but he was unsuccessful. He took a mat into the safe room on his floor, to ‘meditate’ around his normal time. Tony had only been gone for a couple of hours, and Bruce already felt his sanity slipping away. 

He fell asleep, which happened every once in awhile, but usually when things were going good and he was relaxed. But this time it was due to both his rising panic and the Science Jam Session he’d had with Tony and hadn’t slept for 22 hours. Except Pepper had told Bruce to use any means necessary to get Tony to Australia, and who was he to cross her? 

 

He woke up four hours later, his head throbbing, due to lack of food and water, which caused his earlier unresolved panic skyrocket. He blinked at the lights in the room, they seemed brighter than usual for some reason, sharper. They burned through his sockets and he felt bile rise in his throat. He rested his hand in his hair, careful not to pull because JARVIS had a perfect algorithm and he was already playing right into it. He pre ssed himself into the back corner, breathing sporadically, squeezing his eyes shut. He tried to count out his breaths, to stabilize it, wishing that Tony had been there to help. It wasn’t like Bruce was dependent on Tony for his own sanity or something, but it would sure help if there were anyone else in the tower qualified for helping him at the moment. Bruce transitioned his hands so that they were pulling at his pants in order to relieve some of the pressure building up in his brain. He was right, JARVIS was logging and analyzing his actions, but he was under strict orders from Pepper not to contact Tony unless the world was literally exploding. 

A text popped up on Bruce’s phone. He didn’t remember bringing it in with him, but he was glad he had, because at least then he could keep some of Tony’s suspicion down.  _ How’s it hanging buddyroo?  _ it read. 

_ Everything’s good. How’s Australia?  _ he sent back, before dropping his phone back down onto the floor. He curled back into himself, leaning his head against the floor and rocking himself slightly. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the Miller ending, if you don't want this ending, then go ahead and click over to Chapter 3.

JARVIS continued to send texts to both Bruce and Pepper as the day continued. Although Pepper had been very serious about Tony getting work done and not being tied up with the Avengers while that happened, she wasn’t, contrary to popular belief, without a soul. She’d instructed JARVIS to run everything that was normally run by Tony through her, which included Bruce, as it turned out.

 _It appears Dr. Banner is having a severe panic attack, Ms. Potts,_ JARVIS texted her the moment Bruce had woken up. _What are his protocols?_ she replied, thinking, _It’s not Tony’s job to drop everything to go help, Bruce._ The engineer looked across the table at his CEO, giving her a questioning look. She smiled and mouthed _Happy_ to him, which made Tony laugh under his breath, before Pepper gave him a pointed look, and tilted her head toward the presenter. He rolled his eyes but turned his attention back to the front of the room.

 _First, I am to contact Mr. Stark, if he is unavailable, then a member of the Avengers, then Agent Miller. If none of them are available, I contact emergency services,_ JARVIS sent back immediately, since the AI didn’t need to type.

 _So contact an Avenger,_ Pepper insisted. _All Avengers are unavailable at the moment. Captain Rogers and Miss. Natasha are on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. Mr. Barton is off grid, taking care of ‘personal business’ and Thor is currently in Antarctica with Ms. Foster,_ he informed her. _Then tell Miller, she’s capable of helping Bruce. Tony needs to get these meetings done, he can’t be the entirety of Bruce’s support network,_ she insisted, not taking her eyes off of the meeting as she wrote back.

 

Bruce wasn’t sure how much time had passed. He shifted in and out of consciousness, completely delirious without food or drink. He was entirely afraid of Hulking out, and for what appeared to him to be a good reason. His head was pounding, sending ricochets through his whole body which resembled the spasms of the Other Guy trying to push his way through. He couldn’t think because every time he tried, panic surged through him and his empty stomach rose in his throat.

What felt what every once in awhile, but what in reality was every moment he was awake enough to move, a text would pop up on his phone. The texts were coming from Tony’s contact, and they all seemed to be trying to keep Bruce engaged with something other than his own head.

So JARVIS took the next step with the ‘Bruce-Is-Freaking-Out Protocol’, informing Fury and Bruce’s handler Agent Miller that something was wrong and that Bruce maybe probably needed some help. Maybe. Especially considering the fact that the physicist, under Tony’s nose, had worked into the protocol a code that kept JARVIS from telling S.H.I.E.LD. anything before at least four days had passed without help.

 

“Bruce?” someone called through a door. “Bruce if you don’t open this door right now, I’m breaking it down!” He blinked around, unable to focus his eyes on anything. He felt something rising in his throat and started coughing uncontrollably, feeling sick and still panicked, if to a lesser degree. He lifted his head a little bit, trying to see what was going on, more himself than he had been for a while, but still completely out of it.

Outside the safe room, JARVIS said, “If he doesn’t open the door himself in the next ten seconds, I am authorized to unlock it for anyone that is trying to help him. I assume you fall under that category, Miss. Miller.”

“Yes. Yes, of course, I do,” the agent shook her head, “Who made these rules anyway? All they seem to do is hurt Bruce.”

“Dr. Banner helped edit the rules as Mr. Stark rewrote the protocols a few weeks ago. They were created under the assumption that Dr. Banner wouldn’t be alone in the tower for this long.”

“Yeah, well I should’ve been given a copy of that too, so I could’ve made some of my own suggestions. Bruce sent me the transcript of a meeting he left halfway through, but not the actual document it created,” Miller continued to mutter under her breath as the door clicked open, (because Tony lied, and the update gave JARVIS mild control over it).

The agent pushed into the room immediately, finding Bruce pressed against the furthest wall. He put his fist in his mouth, coughing a little, his eyes bleary. “Hey there, Bruce,” she whispered, “I’m going to come over if you don’t mind.” She crouched down, not wanting to come off as big or menacing. The physicist’s head dropped back and he starts laughing uncontrollably, imbedding _‘I’m sorry’_ s every few seconds. He was crying in earnest now, completely hysterical. Miller completed her trek over, sitting next to him. She took his hands into her own, “Bruce, we’re going to go to your room now,” she informed him, pulling him to his feet, completely supporting him.

He still hadn’t stopped laughing, which translated to him not breathing. and although Bruce had sent her a transcript of a meeting that was meant to train the other Avengers to help Bruce, that didn’t mean she was any better at this than them.

“That’s it, Bruce, let’s get some water into you,” she sat him down on a couch.

 

Three days later, Tony got home from Australia. “JARVIS, who’s up?” he asked, stepping into the elevator. “There is no one home, sir,” the AI replied. “What do you mean ‘no one’s home’,” Tony sputtered, “It’s three in the morning, how is no one here?”

“Mr. Rogers, Agents Barton, and Romanov are during various things with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Master Thor is with Miss. Foster.”

“And Bruce?”

“He is currently at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.”

“And why the hell did nobody tell me before now?” He was seething, already back in the elevator to get to an Iron Man suit.

“Not to choose a scapegoat, but I would suggest inquiring Ms. Potts about this,” JARVIS replied, as Tony was already taking off from his balcony. “Yeah, well send her some dead flower for me or something,” the engineer muttered, sitting down on the sidewalk next to the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. “Someone let me see my fucking friend or I’ll blow up this fucking building!” he shouted, breaking into the room, aiming his repulsors at the receptionist. He was the same agent that had been there when Tony had been tracking down Bruce the first time, and he pulled his phone to his ear with the same bored and ‘over it’ look that he’d had months before. 

“Hey, Erin, Stark’s up here threatening to… Yeah, blow up the building or something? I’m not sure, but he’s looking for Banner… Yeah, yeah. Mmm hmm… Yep, cool… Bye.” He looked up at Tony, “Come with me, Banner’s downstairs.”

“Yeah, and better be fucking reading or something domestic and mundane like that,” the engineer muttered, stepping out of the suit and having it fold down into a suitcase before following the receptionist.

“Oh, hey,” Bruce said, glancing up. 

“What the fuck _?_ ” Tony asked, “What the fuck are you doing in- Nevermind. Why the fuck are you in S.H.I.E.L.D? You know what, also not important. Let’s go.” 

“Tony- Ow! What the hell?” Bruce pulled away, putting a slip of paper in his book.

“Just making sure you weren’t a hologram or anything.” The _I was expecting a cage_ went unsaid.

“I’m sorry. JARVIS told me what happened, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let you stay here alone,” Tony lamented softly, following Bruce and Miller out of her office. Bruce went silent, his head dropping down because this was Bruce and of course Bruce he feels bad for making Tony feel bad.

Miller intervened at that point, pressing a button for the elevator. “It’s apparently in your protocol to contact me, Mr. Stark, which I must say, came as a surprise.” The doors opened, “But thank you.” She turned away from Tony, “Dr. Banner, you’re, of course, free to go, but what we discussed? Don’t think I'm going to let you slack. If I found out you've gone behind my back, you will be seeing my wrath,” she said lightly, but the meaning pressed up behind her words wasn’t forgotten. 

She left them to enter the elevator, waving goodbye, and when Bruce and Tony got to the parking lot, Tony asked, “Her wrath huh?”

Bruce descended into a pit of giggles, before finally asking, “How are we getting home?”

Tony has to stop himself from shouting in glee because that was the first time Bruce had called the tower home and nothing could be better than that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the Steve ending, if you don't want this ending, then go ahead and click over to Chapter 2!

A light went off on the phone that Tony had given Steve. He bit his lip before picking it. He was still exhausted from the week before, both physically and mentally. Sam had forced him to go back to his Washington apartment and sleep for at least a couple hours before continuing his search. He didn’t want to see what other disappointing news from Sam.

_ Cap’t Rogers, it appears that Dr. Banner is in need of assistance in regards to Protocol 79. There is a jet on its way to your nearest airport, and directions have been plugged into your car. _

Steve shot up in his bed. 

He called Tony as he jumped up, throwing on a jacket, pants, and his shoes and running out the door. “Tony, what’s going-”

“Mr. Stark is unreachable at this moment,” JARVIS interrupted, but his voice almost seemed softer than normal, “But your arrival to the tower would be most beneficial to Dr. Banner.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m on my way, don’t worry,” Steve slammed into his car and pulled into the early morning traffic. “What’s going on? Where is he? Is he going to- to, you know?” 

“Dr. Banner is in the safe room on his personal floor and is currently having a panic attack. He is unlikely to transform at this time, but it isn’t outside of the realm of possibilities.”

“Is there anyone with him now?”

“There are many workers in the tower, but no one that is to be contacted in the case of the protocol, no.”

“So, so he’s alone, having a panic attack and I’m at least an hour away?”

“No, Mr. Rogers. You are currently twelve minutes away from the airport, and since Quinjets can fly at Mach 8, you win be landing in New York within twenty minutes,” the AI assured him. 

“Okay. Okay,” Steve nodded, slowing his breathing. “This isn't like last September  is it?” he asked slowly, keeping his eyes directly on the road. 

“He is only at twenty percent and is likely to stay there. As Mr. Stark explained, there is a clear line between panic attacks and his suicidal tendencies,” JARVIS reminded him as Steve switched lanes. 

“Yeah. Okay, thanks, JARVIS,” the captain sighed. “What’s, what’s he doing right now?” he asked, pulling up to a stoplight. 

“He’s currently unconscious, but that is subject to change, as it has many times since he entered the safe room.” The AI’s voice was soothing, but still rigid, leaving Steve no room to question his authority on the subject. 

“How long has he been in there again?”

“Twelve hours, he entered around the same time you arrived in DC,” JARVIS replied. Steve thought back to his last few moments in the tower before he drove to DC. He and Sam had been having a screaming match over the phone until he decided that he was going to get to Washington to deal with this in person. 

“He didn’t… hear me and Sam, did he?” Steve asked, pulling at his hair a little. 

“He passed by towards the end of your conversation, yes.”

“Do you think that he- that we made him get upset...?” he pushed, parking his car in the airport parking lot. 

JARVIS paused because of course, Tony made a robot that considers the feelings of others. “I wouldn’t rule it out,” he replied almost softly as Steve climbed out of his car, running a hand through his hair. He takes his phone off speakerphone, asking, “Where am I supposed to be going JARVIS?”

The plane ride to the tower probably constitutes the worst ten minutes of his life. He stays on the phone with JARVIS, after trying to call Bruce once when JARVIS says that Bruce is awake, but Bruce dismisses the call almost immediately. 

“Captain, we’re landing at the Avenger’s Tower now,” the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot informed him. 

“Thank you,” the soldier called back, ending his call with JARVIS and jumping out of the back of the plane seconds after it lands. He’s sprinting towards the doors, JARVIS is opening them for him, and directing him to the elevator with nothing less than deep-set worry accompanied by cautious hope. 

 

“Captain Roger’s is on his way, Dr. Banner,” JARVIS informs the physicist. Tears are streaming down his face, and he’s banging his head back against the wall, trying to relieve the pressure in his head. He’d just woken up from one of his more… involved nightmares, one that followed him through years of half trained therapists. 

“No,” he whispers, trying to get to his feet, but panic is coursing through him again at full force and he couldn’t move. “Please, don’t!” he cries out, his visions being colored with blood and violence. 

“Dr. Banner, Captain Roger’s has boarded a plane and will be here in less than ten minutes, everything will be over soon.”

Bruce drops onto his back, pulling his arms around himself to keep himself safe, craving the pressure. His fingers pried into his skin, and he coughed a little, feeling like he couldn’t breathe. 

“Captain Roger’s has asked me to tell you he is very sorry if his altercation with Mr. Wilson caused all of this.”

He blinked blearily, trying to find the source of the voice. “I didn’t mean to,” he answers hoarsely, tears coming to an end, simply because he didn’t have any energy left. “I’m sorry.” He pushes himself against the furthest wall, trying to sit up, but failing. His eyes half closed in exhaustion, trying to keep himself from falling back into his dreams. 

“I’m going to play some music, Dr. Banner since data indicates that it’s been helpful in the past.”

Soft piano music descends into the room, soothing the part of Bruce’s brain that is more frightened of the silence than the screams. He curls into himself further and tries to breathe through the swirling panic that’s jumping around in his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“Dr. Banner, Captain Rogers is currently in the elevator, he’s less than a minute away.”

Bruce rolled onto his side, pushing against the pounding in his head. “Please, stop,” he whispered brokenly. “I’m sor-

“Stop it!” he screamed, clawing at his hair. 

His breathing sped up as the pounding in his head began hitting harder and harder. He couldn’t think past keeping the Other Guy inside his head.”I’m so sorry,” the physicist whispered one last time, pulling his knees up to his chest and crying softly. 

 

“Captain, it would be beneficial to Dr. Banner if you bring the blue blanket from his living room when you arrive,” JARVIS announces, Steve nods his thanks for the advice and steels himself for whatever is on the other side of the elevator doors. 

Which, as it turns out, was soft music, something from a ballet. Steve grabbed the blanket JARVIS had mentioned (which was a lot heavier than it looked, mind you) and walked toward the panic room. As he neared the door he could wear Bruce crying on the other side, wordless pleas bubbling in the air. 

He tried the handle, but it was locked. “Hey, um, JARVIS, you want to… let me in?” he asked, trying to keep his breath even. “I am technically unable to open the door unless Dr. Banner is a danger to himself. At the moment, he hasn’t tried to physically harm himself past grounding techniques and the maximum amount of time he’s allowed to go without eating is four days.”

Steve started yanking the handle, trying to force his way in. “JARVIS, what’s the loophole? There’s a loophole, right? This is Tony we’re talking about!” Bruce flinched at the noise, stifling a scream by covering his mouth with his fist. 

“There is a way to break open the door,” JARVIS explained, walking Steve through the steps of disengaging the lock on the door. It swung in with a final push and he entered the safe room. 

“Hey, Bruce.” Steve closed the door behind him and then crouched down in front of it, the weighted blanket in his lap. The doctor flinched at Steve’s voice, pushing himself further against the back wall. He’d stopped screaming, or trying to, and had taken to random outbursts of whimpering through his tears. 

The ballet music continued, but JARVIS had brought down the volume once Steve entered. “I’m going to come over by you in a minute, is that okay?”

Bruce blinked at him, trying to focus his vision, but he didn’t stop his constant motion of trying to get the hell away from Steve. 

“I brought a blanket that JARVIS said might help after I put it on you, I promise I’ll come right back here,” the soldier informed him softly. He slowly made his way over to Bruce, keeping his body small (or at least as small as was possible nowadays) before he sat a couple feet to the left of his friend. 

Bruce had been talking since Steve started moving, mostly sentences that ended halfway through and misplaced words that came from stories that shouldn’t be brought to light. But they all had the common thread of  _ Please don’t touch me _ . 

“Okay Bruce, I’m going to count to three and then I’m going to put this blanket on your legs. You can do whatever you want with that after that, I promise,” Steve whispered. “One… two… three,” the captain continued. 

A scream caught in the back of Bruce’s throat at the sudden (but not unpleasant) pressure. No matter how slow Steve could’ve laid the blanket down, Bruce still would’ve been unprepared, still would’ve reacted with the same blurred fear, which didn’t exactly reassure Steve. “I’m sorry, bud,” he promised, backing off a few feet. “I’m sorry.”

After his initial panic, Bruce settled down again. He’d been laying on his side, curled into himself when Steve had set down the weighted blanket, but now he’d pulled himself into an upright position. 

His breathing had evened out again, even though it still way too fast, and he began to stroke the soft exterior of the blanket. The extra pressure it provided barred him from trying to become part of the wall again, so Steve considered that an accomplishment. 

A couple minutes later, JARVIS texted Steve for a second time that morning. “When similar attacks occur, Mr. Stark tends to talk to Dr. Banner. It’s unknown if he would receive this comfort from others, but I do suggest trying,” it read. Steve nodded and said, “Okay,” to the AI, then he continued, “Okay. Hey Bruce,” said man flinched, but not nearly as hard as he had earlier, “It’s been suggested that I talk to you, so I’m. Um. Going to do that.”

Bruce pulled the blanket up onto his shoulders, shuddering through his receding panic. 

“I went to the grocery store last week, even though Tony insists that we just get our food delivered. But I don’t know, I just like the feel of being in the store. They’ve changed a lot, but it’s okay. It’s one of the things that always seemed to be changing anyway,” he kept his voice soft, as soothing as it could be. Bruce seemed to be warming up to it, as he kept shifting the weighted blanket until it was covering everything but his head. He’d stopped crying at that point, mostly just breathing heavily. 

“I’ve discovered that there are like a billion different kinds of cereal, and I’ve made it my mission to try all of them,” he chuckles under his breath, scooching a little closer to his friend to see how he’d react. 

“I tried Fruit Loops last week after Sam recommended them, and they were too sugary for my taste, but I think Tony would like them.” 

Within half an hour, the doctor had fallen into a (so far) dreamless sleep, but Steve didn’t stop talking.  He sighed softly, “I’m sorry, Bruce. I know this is hard and confusing for you. I know I barely, if at all, understand.” The soldier lightly rubbed Bruce’s back once he’d gotten all the way over to his friend, “I’m sorry. 

“I’m not the person you want to be with, I know that. I know that I’m not the best at this and that I make you uncomfortable. I know that I’m not supposed to take offense to that, that you can feel like that with everyone at times. I guess I just wish that I could alleviate that.” 

After he was sure that Bruce was in a deep enough sleep, he picked up the small man and the blanket and laid them both down on the couch on Bruce’s floor. 

He wished he could wrap Bucky up in a blanket and just watch him as he slept. He wished he could reach Bucky in less than twenty minutes. He wished JARVIS could track him down and tell him when Bucky wasn’t okay. He wanted a contract like Tony and Bruce did with his friend. 

He sighed, getting up from where he was sitting and runs a hand over his jaw, making his way over to the kitchen. He heated up some water under JARVIS’s suggestion and placed the warm mug on the coffee table. 

Bruce is whimpering through a nightmare a couple hours later, but all Steve could do was hold him against his chest. 

The genius tried to pull away, but Steve just shushed him until his dream woke him up. 

“Wha-? St- Steve?” he asked hoarsely, in his first moments of coherency since the day before. 

“Hey,” he replied, letting Bruce pull himself away. 

“Why,” he looked around, trying to gain a bearing on his surroundings, “Why are you… here?”

“JARVIS contacted me. Said you were having a hard time, and I didn’t want you to be alone,” he quickly changed the subject, though, “You thirsty? JARVIS said warm water might help, that it had in the past. I’m going to make you some toast. Or I could grab some crackers if you’d prefer that? I’ll grab both, just stay here, okay?”

Steve rushed out of the room, feeling his incessant need to help and fix. 

Once he was gone, Bruce placed his head in his hands, pulling at his hair lightly as he pulled his knees up to his chest. 

Steve sat on the other end of the couch, giving Bruce his space and setting the food on the coffee table. Upon the soldier’s arrival, Bruce had forced himself to detangle, reaching for the mug with shaking hands. “Hey, careful,” Steve placed his hands over the doctor’s, helping guide the cup up to his mouth. 

“Sorry,” Bruce mumbled, “Sorry,” he set the glass down a little forcefully, before getting to his feet. “I’m just going to- to- I’ll be right back.”

Steve stood up slowly, following the scientist to his bedroom. “I’m coming in if that’s okay…” Steve called out. 

“Dr. Banner nodded, Captain,” JARVIS supplied. A new song started, and Steve had almost forgotten that it was still playing. But one of Tony’s songs was playing over the intercom as Steve trailed Bruce into the bathroom. The door was open, and before Steve could comment, Bruce explained, “JARVIS says I’m a day behind,” before dry swallowing a handful of pills. 

He brushed his teeth and stared at the mirror for a couple minutes, just listening to and taking comfort in the softer songs on Tony’s playlist. 

“I think I’m going to sleep for a couple hours,” Bruce finally said, turning to Steve. “My brain’s kind of muddled and I don’t think I should try and work through it right now.” 

“If there’s anything-” Steve attempted, but Bruce cut him off, running a hand through his hair. “No offense, but I’ve done this before. I know that if don’t go to sleep  _ now _ , then I won’t be able to sleep for like three days. I’m sorry, I don’t know why, but my circadian rhythm hates me, so…” 

He disappears into his closet, hoping that Steve will just leave him alone. He wasn’t technically lying to the man, he was just leaving out a few things. Like how he’d just had one nightmare, so his brain was unlikely to make up another one in the next four hours, so he wanted to get as much sleep as possible while he still could. And yeah, he didn’t really want to talk to Steve about this right now, he felt embarrassed. He figured Steve would get called out for something before he’d have a chance to confront Bruce. 

Except Steve was sitting on the end of his bed when he finished getting his pajamas on. Before Bruce could ask him to leave, Steve asked, “Will you at least get something to eat?” Bruce glanced at the clock on his wall. He had a little over four hours until he couldn’t be sure if he’d get nightmares. 

He sighed and then nodded, following Steve into his own kitchen. “JARVIS, can you skip this song?” he asked, walking around his floor and putting things away as he went. 

“You can sit down, Bruce,” Steve reminded him, gesturing to the island across from where he was making eggs. 

“I’m aware,” Bruce snarked back. He didn’t like feeling broken open like this. His brain still felt like it was three steps back and his body hurt and he wasn’t just tired, but he was exhausted from the irrationality of his brain. 

Steve held up his hands in defense, but otherwise didn’t comment and within half an hour, Bruce was asleep again. 

 

“Hey Tony, I know you’re busy with your meetings and everything, but if you could call me back, that’d be great. I really could use some advice on how to help Bruce right now.” Steve ended his eighth and (likely) final voicemail with a sigh. He knew that Tony had a lot of stuff going on, but Steve had seen him literally drop everything to help his friend in the past. 

“JARVIS, why isn’t Tony picking up?” Steve asked, sitting back down on the couch. 

“All correspondences sent to Mr. Stark are to be intercepted by Ms. Potts first. It is unlikely that she will answer. She is aware of the situation here, of course, but she’s used an executive protocol to keep Mr. Stark unaware,” the AI explained. “Why doesn’t she-” he shakes his head and forces himself to watch the news, waiting for his friend to wake up again. 

 

Bruce pulled his pillow away from his face as he woke up at eleven in the morning, but he figured that he shouldn’t risk having any more sleep. It might send him back to the early morning rather than help him feel more rested. 

He sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face and dragging himself to the bathroom. “Is Steve still here, J?” Bruce asked, splashing water over his face in hopes to wake up more. 

“Captain Rogers is currently in your living room. I have not alerted him to you waking up, do I have your permission to?”

Clearly, whatever scale or protocol that Steve was operating on before had expired. Or JARVIS thought Bruce was out of the woods. 

Whatever it was, Bruce shrugged, “He’ll find out soon enough I’m gonna shower and get dressed and everything. Yeah, go ahead and tell him.”

“Very well, sir,” JARVIS replied, but Bruce could practically hear the smile behind the AI’s voice. 

The physicist chuckled softly to himself and started getting himself ready for the day (because it’s still technically morning). 

He picked up the phone after he pulled on a shirt, it was still mildly dead, but he dialed Pepper’s number nonetheless. 

“Steve, I swear, if you took Bruce’s phone to-”

“Um… hi, Pepper…?” he cut her off. 

“Oh,” the CEO sighed, “Oh God. Hey, are you okay?”

Bruce nodded before he remembered that she couldn’t see him and replied, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good now. I just needed to talk to someone other than…” 

“Than Steve,” she sighed, “I understand.” He heard someone talking in the background, but couldn’t make out the words. 

“One second, Dave, Tony’s trying to give me a headache at the moment.” Bruce could practically hear her phony smile on the other line. He waiting a minute, pulling on some socks during the brief pause. Then, Bruce hears, “Pepper is  _ so _ going to the time out corner when we get back to New York.”

Bruce felt all of the tension drain out of his shoulders immediately at his friend’s voice. 

“Hey to you too,” he smiles, standing up. “How’ve your meetings been?”

“Screw my meetings, Banner. Are you good? Do you need me to come back?” Tony replied crisply. 

“I’m fine now. You don’t need to come back,” Bruce placates him, running a hand through his hair. 

“I’ll be there sometime today or tomorrow,” Tony answered, completely ignoring the physicist. “I’ll work it out with Pepper, she’ll be down with it if she wants _out of the time out corner_ ,” the engineer threatens, now focusing his words on Pepper even as he pretended to speak to Bruce. 

“Tony, you really don’t have to-”

“Sorry, you’re cutting out. Are you going through a tunnel? See you soon, bye bye!” Tony finished the call before Bruce could reply. He smiled softly to himself before putting his phone in his pocket and stepping into his living room. Steve jumped to his feet, “Bruce!” he smiled, walking over to his friend, “How’re you feeling?”

Bruce shrugged uncomfortably, tired of hearing another iteration of the same question. He pulled away when Steve tried to touch him, not being above what Tony would consider a three or four on the ‘What Amount of Touch Is Bruce Comfortable With’ scale. “I’m fine,” he answered, not exactly retreating to his kitchen, but his actions were clear enough. He stared into his fridge for a while, trying to bring himself to be hungry. 

“You want to watch TV with me?” Steve asks when Bruce doesn’t move. Bruce nods quickly, ducking his head and following Steve into his living room. They watch Cartoon Network until ten that night when they both go to bed on their separate floors. 

 

The Quinjet set down at three in the morning. Tony jumped out of the back and hugged Bruce immediately, worry lines flying from his face. Steve stands back a little, smiling softly at his friends. “God, I missed you,” Tony breathed, holding the physicist at a distance. “I’m kidnapping you, got it? We’re going to Australia.”

“Tony, I’m not-”

Tony groaned to cut him off and just pulled him into the tower, Steve trailing behind them. They all watch TV for a couple hours until Tony has to head back to Australia. 

“I’ll see you in a few days,” Tony promised, hugging Bruce one more time. “See ya,” Bruce smiled, ducking his head a little. He let out a breath before he went back into the tower. 

Steve goes to follow him, but Tony stops him by saying, “Hey, um… Thanks for staying with Bruce. I know it’s still kind of hard for you guys… trying to do what’s right or whatever. I don’t know.”

“I’m just glad I can be there for a friend,” Steve reassures him and Tony starts to get back on the plane. But he suddenly turns back around, “And thanks for putting your Barnes search on hold.” He jumped back down and walked back to Steve. “I promise, I have so many resources going into this. I'm prioritizing it, don't worry. We'll find him, Steve," Tony clasped his friend's shoulder and gave him a grim smile. "It'll all be okay." 

Steve found himself smiling back. 


End file.
